Pingle Newsletter - The Pingle School

Achievements galore, home and away!
February 2014
Nobody could ever accuse our school community of being
inward looking!
This newsletter shows the breadth and depth of our
commitment to the global community. It is my firm belief that
our students will be more well rounded and richer from their
participation in activities from the French Day to the Ghana
project.
The ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ cycle challenge has brought in all manner of visitors from the
local community who are keen to support our Year 11 student Chelsea Neat’s charity fundraiser,
raising money for Help for Heroes and Sports Relief.
All students participated in activities in school on Friday 14
February. Year 8 students took part in an Environmental Day with
The Gibber Theatre called ‘Waste Watchers’ and a series of
workshops were held for our Year 11 students entitled ‘Prison Me
No Way’, all about
crime and punishment.
Other students opted to
go out on a visit, all
designed to enrich their education. Students visited
Sheffield University, Derby University, the Royal
Armouries Museum in Leeds and the Magna Science
Park in Rotherham.
New beginnings has also been a focus this month.
Year 7 students were pleased to welcome back their
class teachers and Primary Heads to join them for afternoon tea. This was a great opportunity to
catch up and applaud all that has been achieved since joining us in Year 7.
We were also delighted to welcome a record number of students from across the area for
interviews to join our ever popular Sixth Form.
I hope you enjoy reading this half term’s articles about your children’s achievements.
Mrs Sharples
Acting Headteacher
Forthcoming Events:
Year 12/13 mock examinations: week commencing Monday 3 March 2014
Year 11 Parents’ Evening: 4.30-7.00pm Wednesday 5 March 2014
Non-uniform Day for Sport Relief: Friday 21 March 2014
Year 7 Parents’ Evening: 4.30-7.00pm Wednesday 26 March 2014
African Adventures
Mrs Holland will be part of a team of volunteers joining Burton
Albion Community Trust on a visit to Ghana in May. They will take
part in community projects providing education, sports coaching
and building support. Members of the group are hoping to make
a difference to the lives of the children in Ghana, but at the same
time, funds raised for the project will also contribute to the work of
the Trust, providing opportunities for people across the wider
Burton area.
To help to support the volunteers, Billy and Bettie Brewer
agreed to visit us and undertake a special Geography
refresher lesson from Mr Waller.
Matt Hancock, Community Manager at the BACT,
said “The Pingle School is one of the local organisations
represented on the visit to Ghana, so who better to
ask for help in our preparations for the visit than the
Geography Department at the school. Mr Waller
entertained the team with facts and figures about
Ghana, which will help in our preparation for the visit.”
Mr Waller said: “I was born in South Africa and have
travelled widely there. I think the team will need to be
prepared for extremes of poverty, 3.5 million people lack
access to guaranteed clean water sources and 87% do
not have access to improved sanitation. It is a county
where 3,000 children under five die each year from poor
water and sanitation.”
In school, we held our own fundraising day in support of the
visit, some of us wearing our own football shirts - we raised
£800.00. Thank you!
Swadlincote Christmas Tree Festival
The LSB decorated a Christmas tree at the Emmanuel
Parish Church, Swadlincote for the Christmas Tree Festival.
We all made our own decorations in school. By Bradley
Mellor & Ross Lloyd
French Day
As part of French Day celebrations, local
primary schools joined us for some French fun.
Lessons included French, Art, Music and a
quiz was held in the library. Taking part were
groups of Year 5 students from Eureka Primary
School, Springfield Junior School, Pennine
Way Academy, Fairmeadows Primary School
and St George’s Primary School.
The whole school took part in the themed
day, dressing in red, white and blue, and
we all enjoyed a special menu at lunchtime,
including mussels, boeuf bourguignon and
pancakes.
Punctuality
Our recent drive to improve punctuality had seen a massive 73%
improvement since September. We have installed a clock on the
outside wall and daily checks on punctuality now take place.
Ms Chiswell-Burgess, Pastoral Support Manager said “We have
stressed the importance of punctuality to the students and installed
the clock so they are through the school gates by 8.27am, ready for
an 8.30am start. We are grateful to parents and carers for their support in achieving this
improvement”.
In a bid to get the message home to students, Jason Duncan, of Swadlincote based Chameleon
School of Construction, came into school to tell the students how important
punctuality is from the viewpoint of an employer. He explained “I cannot
express enough how important punctuality is, it will have an effect on you as
an employee and on the business you are working for. The business will rely
on you and will feel let down if you cannot get to work on time each day.
Ultimately you will lose your job.” He added “The key to good punctuality is
a good routine and getting to know what time you need to get up and then
leave the house in order to be at school or work on time. Good punctuality
is important at school to make sure you achieve.”
A huge thank you to Jason for taking the time to relay such an important
message to students.
Mock Results
We held our mock results session to try to
replicate the moment when the students
will receive the real exam results in August.
Students collected their brown envelope
which contained the results from our mock
exams held in November.
Parents were invited to join in at the event to share the
experience with the students. Tommy Pitcher, a Year 11
student said “I worked really hard for my mock exams and
I am hoping to study three sciences and maths when I join
Sixth Form. I would be happy with my 3 A* and 5 A grades
in August but would love to just do that bit better if I can,
but I was happy anyway.”
Mr Bamford, Deputy Headteacher said “We are pleased that
many of our students have achieved their target grade, but
we will continue to encourage all students to make sure they
achieve their full potential.”
Bus Park Café
We were delighted to welcome members of the Bus Park Café to school to
share in the Christmas festivities with some Year 11 students. The Bus Park
Café in Swadlincote provides meals and organises trips and activities for the
people who attend.
Mrs Fairley, Head of PSHE
said “It is wonderful to
have the older generation
of Swadlincote in school
spending time with the
students. It is charming to see the young
people serving drinks and sitting chatting with
our visitors. We hope the cards and gifts
presented will encourage the elderly in our
community to know that young people do
care.”
Pupil Support Centre
Students in our Pupil Support Centre have been treated lately
to fresh fruit, thanks to a health partnership funding scheme.
Mrs Stretton said “The funding enabled us to set up a health
focus group in the centre. Providing fresh fruit also gave us the
opportunity to promote healthy eating with our students.”
The funding was also used to
provide Zumba classes and give the students the opportunity to
cook healthy meals. This will hopefully provide them with skills for the
future. Adele White, a Year 8 student, said: “The group was great fun
and I have attended every week, I can now cook spaghetti.”
Students were also rewarded
for all the hard work they
showed last term with a visit from hairdresser and beauty
therapist Michelle Harrison-Ross. Students were shown
different nail techniques and were then given the
opportunity to try them out on each other during the day.
Year 9 student Mollie Riddell, said “Michelle taught us how
to make our nails look wonderful. I really loved the
workshop and had lots of fun”.
Garden Club
Thank you to everyone who collected the 4032 Morrissons vouchers for the
school gardening club. With the vouchers we have been able to get a
wormery, a hedgehog house, a root farm and a smoothie maker - so we can
make drinks with the fruit that we grow. By Bryony-Anne Woodward, Tierre
Davies and Liam Maydew.
Rowing for Success
Jordan Simons, a Year 11 student, has just completed an excellent year of winning
medals and cups at rowing regattas all over the country. He is part of a dedicated
four man crew which trains five days per week with early starts at weekends. He is
managing a hectic sporting career alongside studying at school and his
determination has led to him taking part in the Great Britain Junior 18 programme.
Bob Laver, his coach at Burton Leander Rowing Club said “It is hoped that his team will win a
medal at the National Rowing Regatta at Holme Pierrepont in
Nottingham and have a chance to qualify for Great Britain in the
Coupe de la Jeunesse in France.”
Everyone at The Pingle School wishes him good luck!
Around the World in 80 Days – The Challenge Continues...
Our latest cycling fundraising challenge set by Year 11 student Chelsea Neat has continued to
gain momentum with plenty of local support. The venture, to ‘cycle’ around the world on
spinning bikes in the school gym has proved popular with both students and the wider community.
Children attending the Derby County Talent Identification Programme (TIPS)
and members of the Derby County Community Trust heard about the
challenge and wanted to join in. Richard Mansfield, Participation Manager
at DCCT said “we jumped at the chance to take part.”
Buzz from Chameleon School of Construction
came in to cycle. Chelsea said “I was delighted
when Buzz agreed to come and take part in our latest charity event for
Help for Heroes and Sports Relief. It is always great to have visitors in
school but a large chameleon walking down the corridors is always
going to cause a stir.” Jason Duncan, of Chameleon Construction,
said: “We were only too pleased to add a few miles on to the clock.”
Members of
Gresley FC and club mascot Elvis Gresley
came in to take part in the challenge. Matt
Toulson, Football in the Community Officer
at the club, said “We are dedicated to
engaging with the community and see sport
playing a key role in bringing that community
together. When we were asked to help out
on the cycle challenge, the players were
delighted to get on the bikes. We are both at the heart of our community and we are at the
start of what we all hope will be a valuable relationship between the club
and school.” Thank you to all the players and Elvis, who between them
clocked up more than 100 kilometres - hopefully this extra training will pay
dividends for them on the pitch!
We have also visited Australia, (a slight detour
on our travels), but the England cricket team
needed some extra support! During a long
cycle ‘across the Pacific Ocean’ some of the
younger students who are taking part dressed
up in pirate outfits.
As the students finally made it to the
west coast of America on their static bike challenge, the Burton
Albion mascots Billy and Bettie Brewer joined in the fun and surprised
students in a Year 8 PE lesson!
“Mr Brown, Head of PE said “The whole school and the wider
community are really getting behind this challenge and we are
expecting to raise a lot of money for two very worthwhile causes.
We cannot thank the teams of student cyclists enough who have
been putting in the miles at lunchtimes. It is a fantastic effort so far and we are on target to
complete the challenge. We are making good progress around the world and look set to be
back in Swadlincote in time for Sports Relief in March.”
Sports News
Netball: Members of the Year 7 team have demonstrated
grit and determination when competing in their first few
performances. They have not won any matches yet but
are working hard to change that in the second half of the
year.
Sports-hall Athletics: On Tuesday 10 December a group
of students represented The Pingle School at the Area
Sports-hall Athletics Competition at the Meadowside
Leisure Centre in Burton. They had to compete in a variety of exercises from running short and
long distance relays, to throwing an indoor shotput and standing long and triple jumps. They
performed brilliantly - the boys were 6th and girls 7th.
Girls Football: Members of the Under 13 girls football team have played some amazing matches
this year led by captain Karagh Tait. They are undefeated and have played 9 matches, winning
them all to become League Champions. The team consists of Karagh Tait, Ellanor Ward, Ellie
Shillito, Ksha Mcdonald, Molly Boultbee, Paige Betteridge, Charlie Stone and Chloe Long.
Dodgeball: On Wednesday 9 January, the Year 7 boys competed at William Allitt against 6 other
teams. They won 5 games and lost 1 to finish top of the group. They then went on to win the
semi-final before losing to William Allitt in the final - a great performance for their first tournament!
In the girls competition, the Year 7s only had half a team but went onto reach the semi-final with
great determination. Well done to Molly Boultbee, Sky Adams , Bryony Woodward and Alyssa
Bishop. The Year 8s had a very competitive league. They played a round robin system and
played everyone twice. Some great performances helped the team to finish runners up.
Year 10 girls had a point to prove as they finished runners up last year. In the league, they played
5 other teams winning 4 and losing 1 which meant they had to compete in the semi-final. They
played and won, leading to a re-run of last years final against John Taylor. Great team spirit and
a positive attitude helped them dispatch a number of the opposition’s players. With 1 minute to
go, Pingle had 4 players and John Taylor had 2. As the clock ticked down, players got out and
back in and it wasn’t until the final whistle blew that a sigh of relief could be felt as Pingle won
and became champions. Well done girls, you deserved it!
Year 8 Disco
Our Year 8 students had the opportunity to
show off their dancing skills at the Christmas
disco!
Year 11-13 Prize Giving
Students in Year 11 and Sixth Form attended the event to
celebrate their achievements, all of whom had been
chosen by their teachers because of their hard work and
progress throughout the year. As well as hundreds of
parents and carers, invited guests included Councillor Ann
Hood, Madam Chairman of the South Derbyshire District
Council and Pat Bullen, Chair of the recently formed IEB
Governing Body of the school.
Mrs Sharples, Acting Headteacher, said “The students of The Pingle
School never cease to inspire and amaze me. They demonstrate
the personal qualities that will ensure they are the best they can
be: commitment, determination, stickability, curiosity and strength
of character. I feel truly blessed to be part of The Pingle
community.”
Special thanks go to the boys of the ‘Tech Team’ and to Jake Billings for ‘kissing the cup’!
Artist Makes Sweets Look Real
Members of a Year 11 GCSE Art group have been
studying the work of artist Sarah Graham. Matt King of
The Original Art Shop in Derby kindly loaned us genuine
prints from his collection so the students could study her
work close up and appreciate her skills. Although the
students were already familiar with Sarah’s work they
were still stunned by the realism in the prints, which take
Sarah about two weeks to produce. The students could
relate to the sweets and candy sticks, as they connect
with that memory of how good sweets taste.
Sarah Green images © of Washington Green Fine Art